On the influence of vulnerable marine ecosystem habitats on peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation regulatory area
On the influence of vulnerable marine ecosystem habitats on peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation regulatory area
Vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are considered hotspots of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the deep sea, but are also characterised by a high vulnerability to disturbance and a low recovery potential. Since 2006, a series of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions have been developed, attempting to ensure the protection of VMEs in international waters. In the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) Regulatory Area, large areas of seabed have been closed to bottom-contact fishing to protect VMEs. However, knowledge of the influence of VME-indicator taxa on macrofaunal assemblages, and the appropriateness of current fishery closures for protecting macrofaunal biodiversity in this area is limited. Here we investigate relationships between the prevalence of VME-indicator taxa [poriferans (sponges), gorgonian corals, and pennatulaceans (sea pens)] and an extensive suite of peracarid crustacean biodiversity metrics in the NAFO Regulatory Area. We also examine whether the current NAFO VME closures protect areas of significantly elevated peracarid diversity. Of the VME-indicator taxa analysed, poriferans were found to have by far the greatest influence over peracarid assemblages. Assemblage structure was altered, and peracarid abundance, biomass, richness, diversity, and variability were enhanced in areas of elevated poriferan biomass, whilst assemblage evenness was slightly depressed in these areas. These findings reaffirm the perception of poriferans as crucial components of VMEs. In contrast, gorgonian coral density had little influence over the faunal assemblages investigated, perhaps reflecting their relatively low prevalence in the study area. Similarly, pennatulaceans were found to influence peracarid assemblages only weakly. This too may reflect a moderately low density of Pennatulacea in the study area. Our results highlight that the application of taxon distribution model outputs to ecological investigations and management decisions in data-limited environments should be treated with caution. Finally, our results indicate that the current system of fishery closures in the NAFO Regulatory Area may not be optimal in terms of providing adequate protection to VMEs against the impacts of bottom trawling.
coral, macrofauna, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, peracarida, porifera, Species distribution modelling, deep sea, vulnerable marine ecosystem
Ashford, Oliver S.
3708c8fb-49cb-490c-b534-b00fd9c57b3b
Kenny, Andrew J.
ca578559-e62d-449d-9f95-e819d4404166
Barrio Froján, Christopher R.S.
4935e7ee-ac0f-41bd-b00b-2c5806561d74
Downie, Anna Leena
3532883a-42a2-4ae0-9fb4-d7ca80e94a7d
Horton, Tammy
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Rogers, Alex D.
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11 July 2019
Ashford, Oliver S.
3708c8fb-49cb-490c-b534-b00fd9c57b3b
Kenny, Andrew J.
ca578559-e62d-449d-9f95-e819d4404166
Barrio Froján, Christopher R.S.
4935e7ee-ac0f-41bd-b00b-2c5806561d74
Downie, Anna Leena
3532883a-42a2-4ae0-9fb4-d7ca80e94a7d
Horton, Tammy
c4b41665-f0bc-4f0f-a7af-b2b9afc02e34
Rogers, Alex D.
fb474198-f059-48f7-b637-74617b5023f6
Ashford, Oliver S., Kenny, Andrew J., Barrio Froján, Christopher R.S., Downie, Anna Leena, Horton, Tammy and Rogers, Alex D.
(2019)
On the influence of vulnerable marine ecosystem habitats on peracarid crustacean assemblages in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation regulatory area.
Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, [401].
(doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00401).
Abstract
Vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are considered hotspots of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the deep sea, but are also characterised by a high vulnerability to disturbance and a low recovery potential. Since 2006, a series of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions have been developed, attempting to ensure the protection of VMEs in international waters. In the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) Regulatory Area, large areas of seabed have been closed to bottom-contact fishing to protect VMEs. However, knowledge of the influence of VME-indicator taxa on macrofaunal assemblages, and the appropriateness of current fishery closures for protecting macrofaunal biodiversity in this area is limited. Here we investigate relationships between the prevalence of VME-indicator taxa [poriferans (sponges), gorgonian corals, and pennatulaceans (sea pens)] and an extensive suite of peracarid crustacean biodiversity metrics in the NAFO Regulatory Area. We also examine whether the current NAFO VME closures protect areas of significantly elevated peracarid diversity. Of the VME-indicator taxa analysed, poriferans were found to have by far the greatest influence over peracarid assemblages. Assemblage structure was altered, and peracarid abundance, biomass, richness, diversity, and variability were enhanced in areas of elevated poriferan biomass, whilst assemblage evenness was slightly depressed in these areas. These findings reaffirm the perception of poriferans as crucial components of VMEs. In contrast, gorgonian coral density had little influence over the faunal assemblages investigated, perhaps reflecting their relatively low prevalence in the study area. Similarly, pennatulaceans were found to influence peracarid assemblages only weakly. This too may reflect a moderately low density of Pennatulacea in the study area. Our results highlight that the application of taxon distribution model outputs to ecological investigations and management decisions in data-limited environments should be treated with caution. Finally, our results indicate that the current system of fishery closures in the NAFO Regulatory Area may not be optimal in terms of providing adequate protection to VMEs against the impacts of bottom trawling.
Text
fmars-06-00401
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 27 June 2019
Published date: 11 July 2019
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We thank Dr Ellen Kenchington (Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Canada) for providing the Canadian and Spanish fishery research survey trawl data required for the kernel density estimation analysis of VME-indicator taxa distributions. This study was undertaken as part of the "NAFO potential vulnerable marine ecosystems-impacts of deep-sea fisheries" (NEREIDA) programme, which is supported by Spain's General Secretary of the Sea, Spain's Ministry for the Rural and Marine Environment, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, the Geological Survey of Canada, the Canadian Hydrographic Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the United Kingdom's Centre for the Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, the Russian Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography, and the Russian P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology. We thank the crew and scientists aboard the Spanish research vessel Miguel Oliver who collected the box core samples analysed in this study. We are grateful to the two reviewers and the editor AG for generously providing their time and offering insightful, constructive comments.
Keywords:
coral, macrofauna, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation, peracarida, porifera, Species distribution modelling, deep sea, vulnerable marine ecosystem
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 433678
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/433678
ISSN: 2296-7745
PURE UUID: 89ca6f6f-33c4-42c6-8821-798053a965c6
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Date deposited: 30 Aug 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:51
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Contributors
Author:
Oliver S. Ashford
Author:
Andrew J. Kenny
Author:
Christopher R.S. Barrio Froján
Author:
Anna Leena Downie
Author:
Tammy Horton
Author:
Alex D. Rogers
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